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Building Universally Accessible Websites, the Smart Way

By
PVP Team
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No matter what concept E-commerce businesses or digital creators build, it needs to be universally accessible. The world shifted online years ago, and the people building websites and apps need to take everybody’s needs into account.

In some jurisdictions, universal accessibility is the law. But even when it isn’t, ensuring everyone can access your product or services is a human rights issue. It’s also good business.

Everyone is wondering how to make a website accessible for people with disabilities in a quick and affordable way. Keep reading to learn more about how savvy website and app builders rely on on-demand accessibility crowd testing platforms to quickly achieve universal accessibility.

Real People

Automation can be very useful for certain functions, but accessibility testing requires real people with various disabilities to carefully probe your product before it launches. The best on-demand accessibility crowd testing platforms have loyal communities of engaged testers that you can lean on to assess your product before it launches.

Digital researchers, product managers, and UX designers don’t know what they don’t know — they need to dialogue and share screens in real-time with real people. The willingness to build accessible websites and apps on every browser is crucial, but real people to test your product in every phase of development is essential.

Skip recruitment and achieve compliance faster by tapping into a community of engaged testers.

Reviewing Prototypes

Correcting mistakes after the fact is an expensive hassle. You can ensure you’re building barrier-free digital products by leaning on an on-demand accessibility crowdtesting platform from the first phase onward.

Get valuable feedback early by sharing interactive prototypes with a user while guiding them in the session. Incorporating building for accessibility from the first to last development cycle is the surest way to get universal accessibility. It also smoothens out the process and makes it more affordable.

Getting real testers to work with your product with a mix of moderated and unmoderated testing is the best path towards building universally accessible websites.

Security and Permissions

The damages from a data breach can be immense in terms of the costs and headaches involved. Digital creators never need to worry that their testers could ever leak the sensitive information they come across in the tests.

Not only has every tester signed a non-disclosure agreement, but project leads have granular control over what is and isn’t visible to every specific team member. Testers will never see their platform, only what the on-demand accessibility crowdtesting platform wants them to see.

This control over permissions allows companies to effectively connect with real users with disabilities to get the most accurate testing possible, without ever being concerned about security.

Everybody benefits from an online world that is universally accessible. After all, anyone can meet with an accident that renders them permanently or temporarily disabled, and many essential services require online access. Get the right on-demand accessibility crowdtesting platform on your side, and everybody can enjoy your website or app.

Former Blizzard Developer Launches His Own Tabletop Game Company

By
Aletheia
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Despite the government’s orders to implement social distancing, tabletop games have been rising in popularity. As a matter of fact, you could even say that this form of gaming has become even more prevalent, as you can see in the way Steam’s Tabletop Game Fest was such a success.

One possible factor as to why this is the case is the social distancing aspect itself. Because players aren’t allowed to go out and meet up with their usual gang to play tabletop RPGs, it’s more convenient to just go online and play a tabletop game virtually instead.

Plus, setting up a game is easier to do virtually than physically. That being said, it appears that this newfound craze for this genre of gaming has reached even the creatives, including the former Blizzard dev Chris Metzen.

Metzen is actually one of the Blizzard legends, as he was primarily behind the creation of highly-popular titles that many know and love today, such as Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch. Now, four years after leaving the company, it seems that Metzen has found a new calling in the tabletop gaming industry.

In a recent tweet as well as an announcement video, Metzen reveals that he’s currently working on his own tabletop game company called Warchief Gaming. The company is composed of a small team for now, and it doesn’t have any games just yet.

However, given who we’re talking about here, we’re sure that Metzen and co. will be able to release incredible tabletop games that many players will be able to enjoy – from beginners to pros.

In any case, Metzen won’t be alone in his endeavor. Accompanying him is Mike Gilmartin, another former employee of Blizzard. Metzen says that the goal for Warchief Gaming is to return to Blizzard’s roots.

Warchief Gaming wants to return to what made Blizzard so successful to begin with, when popular tabletop titles such as Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer had a huge impact on beginners.

In any case, we can see just how excited Metzen is for this new journey of his. Metzen left Blizzard some time in 2016, and had put the gaming scene behind him when he decided to retire. However, it appears that the passage of time only revitalized his love for gaming.

That being said, Warchief Gaming aims to release physical tabletop games and not virtual ones. Even though the market for physical tabletop games have somewhat become stagnant recently, as more and more gamers prefer to meet with friends virtually instead, Metzen is aware that this isn’t an entirely dead scene.

Warchief Gaming probably couldn’t have come at a better time, as gamers and the video game industry itself have been constantly toeing the line between tabletop and video games. As each day passes, the lines between the two continue to blur and blend together.

As a matter of fact, fans are even getting more creative, as a fan-made tabletop version of the social deduction game Among Us went viral quite recently.

In other news, it seems that launching a tabletop company is turning into somewhat of a trend as of late, as Critical Role – known for its Dungeons & Dragons campaigns – has also recently announced the launch of its own tabletop publishing company called Darrington Press.

New Leaks Say That Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Might Be Getting a Nintendo Switch Demo

By
Aletheia
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According to a recent Korean leak, it’s highly possible that Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity will have a demo for the Nintendo Switch. The sequel to the original hack and slash title Hyrule Warriors, which is inspired by Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors, is scheduled to release next month on November 20, 2020.

Through this upcoming game, Legend of Zelda fans will finally be able to know more about what took place in Hyrule 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity was announced to the public more or less two months ago, much to the surprise of many.

While the fans were expecting Nintendo to release a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, this prequel has been pretty well-received so far, as well. That being said, Age of Calamity is full of familiar characters, as many were already introduced previously.

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You’ll find that the title has an ever-increasing roster of playable characters, such as Urbosa, the champion of Gerudo. In line with this, fans have been theorizing the possibility that King Rhoam might be a playable character too, as recent screenshots of him imply that he will be more than just a passive character this time around.

There are a couple of other recurring characters as well, such as the younger versions of Robbie and Purah. However, you’ll also meet new characters in Age of Calamity, such as a minuscule Guardian that seems to be a good guy.

That being said, two recent tweets by a leaker known as Nintenleaks on Twitter, which were translated by GameRevolution, seem to imply that fans may be given a chance to try out Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity before its scheduled release date via a demo.

Both of Nintenleaks’ tweets made a reference to something posted on Nintendo Korea’s website, which alludes to the existence of not only an unreleased trailer but a demo version of the title as well.

Assuming that this is true, the demo will let players try out Chapter 1 of Age of Calamity. The great thing is that those who do decide to purchase the game after completing the demo will be able to continue where they left off.

Nintendo Korea was quick to remove the post, so you won’t find it on the website anymore. However, avid fans are always quick to notice possible leaks, especially when it comes to highly-anticipated unreleased games.

Now, we’re all wondering if the post was some kind of mistake created by Nintendo Korea’s site admins, or if it was Nintendo’s way of giving excited fans a sneak peek of what’s to come.

After all, Nintendo has been doing a great job surprising fans with its announcements this year, so we wouldn’t put it past the company to suddenly release a demo on the Nintendo Switch eShop.

In any case, fans all over the globe are looking forward to the release of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Whether or not there’s an upcoming demo for the title won’t change this fact.

It’s quite rare for Nintendo to release any kind of sequel or prequel to a Legend of Zelda game, no matter how popular the title is, so the unique existence of Age of Calamity is definitely a treat.

All The Confirmed Details For Apex Legend Season 7 So Far

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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Respawn Entertainment has been working their asses off in order to provide new content for Apex Legends. Now, fans finally know what to expect for the game’s season 7 when it releases in a few days.

Apex Legends’ seventh season, titled Ascension, is scheduled for a November 5 release. Fans all over the world are hyped to see what new things are coming to the game. So, we have listed every new content confirmed to be added to the game for its next season.

Olympus

The seventh season of Apex Legends will be adding a new map called Olympus. The map will feature a destroyed city and the developers have teased that it will have a huge hole at the center which will be fatal for all players who mistakenly fall into the trap. However, they can also utilize the hole to their leverage since they can try to push enemies into the area.

Horizon

Horizon is the newest character coming to Apex Legends. She comes from Olympus and has a really tragic backstory. According to the story trailer released a few days ago, she was deceived by a close friend while she was trying to save Olympus from chaos. Despite being stuck inside a black hole for a relatively short time, time passed quickly on Olympus and when she arrived, her home was ravaged and her son dead.

Fans have yet to determine how her skills will perform on the battlefield. According to leaks, her skills will be focused on controlling gravity. However, fans will have to wait until the developers release her gameplay trailer in the near future.

Other New Features

According to Respawn Entertainment, the new map will be expansive, and to make it easier for players to explore it, vehicles will be introduced during season 7. One vehicle coming to Apex Legends Season 7 is called Trident which can carry an entire squad perfectly.

The developers will also be adding Clubs to Apex Legends in season 7. According to the development team, players will be able to enter these clubs and play with their friends and fellow players.

The seventh season of Apex Legends is guaranteed to add tons of fun and exciting new features to the popular battle royale game. In addition, players can also anticipate a more generous battle pass full of new items and new skins for fans to collect. Luckily, the new update will be released in the next couple of days so players won’t have to wait that long to enjoy the new season.

Riot Games Postpones Valorant 1.11 Update

By
Aletheia
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The initial hype for Valorant may have died down a little bit, but this doesn’t mean that Riot Games’ 5v5 team shooter is any less successful now. However, not everything has been going smoothly behind the scenes, as according to the team of developers working on the game, the most recent Valorant update has apparently been a “technical nightmare.”

As a result, Riot Games has announced that it will be rolling back the latest update and will release it at a later date. Only a few hours ago, the official Valorant Twitter account broke the news that the latest update would be rolled back in the following countries one at a time: North America, Brazil, and LATAM.

Even though bugs and glitches are always pesky to experience, the latest issues associated with update 1.11 is just too much for the developers to handle. Thus, Riot Games has decided to step back from its public release.

Valorant’s developer informed the players that it will release the update within the week.

We can imagine that some fans may be disappointed by this announcement, especially since this latest update will introduce the new Agent, Skye. Not only that, but changes have been made to Breach, Cypher, and Killjoy.

Due to Riot Games’ decision to roll back the update, those who already started on a Skye contract will have to put any kind of progress on pause. Fortunately, this means that you will be able to continue where you left off as soon as Riot Games redeploys the update.

Issues such as this one play a big role as to why players wanted Valorant to have a test server, which is something that Riot Games has set up for its other popular title League of Legends.

On the bright side, public test servers will be making its way to Valorant, but it’s already too late for patch 1.11. You see, test servers are important because they allow you to try out the game and get a deeper understanding of the new characters, balance changes, and much more, all while being able to send the developer your feedback.

Test servers aren’t only beneficial to the players, as well. On Riot Games’ corner, test servers are a huge help when it comes to nightmare updates like this latest one. Furthermore, the developer will be able to find the root cause of a problem and make changes from there in order to stop the issues from spreading.

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Riot Games recently only started Valorant Act 3, which brought with it a new map called Icebox, a new Agent called Skye, and so much more. Patch 1.10 had a pretty smooth-sailing release compared to 1.11, but hopefully, everything will be sorted out once Riot re-releases the update within the next few days.

In other news, fans have been looking forward to all the possible new additions in future Valorant updates, such as the potential snowball-themed mode that dataminers found in the game’s data.

Of course, one can only hope that future Valorant patches will be released in a much smoother fashion compared to 1.11. We’re sure that Riot Games will be able to smooth over hiccups more easily as soon as the test servers get launched, though.

Ubisoft Partners With Netlfix to Bring Assassin’s Creed Live Action Series and more

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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0
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After taking the year off, Ubisoft is preparing to release the latest addition into the massively popular Assassin’s Creed series. In a few days, players will get the chance to play as a Viking in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

The new Assassin’s Creed game will take place in 873 AD as Norwegian Vikings travel and try to settle in Anglo-Saxon England. With fans more than ready than ever to play the role of Eivor, Ubisoft is utilizing the hype as a springboard for more Assassin’s Creed content.

Just a few hours ago, Netflix and Ubisoft announced their partnership which lets the two successful companies team up to innovate new content inspired by the Assassin’s Creed series. Reports reveal that this deal includes a live-action series, something Ubisoft attempted in 2016 with the Assassin’s Creed movie. While the movie featured several popular Hollywood actors such as Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, and Jeremy Irons, it didn’t sit well with critics and wasn’t that much of a hit.

This partnership provides Ubisoft another opportunity to reach an even wider audience through the streaming giant. Better yet, the deal also includes various other projects that use other genres like animated content and anime.

Speculations of an Assassin’s Creed anime have been circulating on the internet for years now after the producer of Netflix’s Castlevania series, Adi Shankar, revealed his involvement. Ubisoft chose to only confirm that the company is working with Shankar but wouldn’t reveal the details at that time.

Based on the Twitter announcement and press release, Netflix is now starting production for the Assassin’s Creed live-action series. While both companies are still looking for a showrunner to lead the series, Ubisoft’s own Danielle Kreinik and Jason Altman, who are working in the Film and Television team of the company, are going to be the show’s Executive Producers.

This partnership shouldn’t be surprising to Assassin’s Creed fans since Ubisoft had been revealing multiple partnership deals with other companies regarding its new game. In addition to manga and graphic novels, one of Ubisoft’s most recent statements is a collaboration with shoemaker Reebok.

The Capsule Collection features a clothing line as well as three unique sets of sneakers with an Assassin’s Creed Valhalla theme. The merchandise releases on all Reebok stores beginning November 7.

Critical Role Announces The Launch Of Its Own Tabletop Publishing Company

By
Aletheia
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0
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Roleplaying games have played a huge part in feeding and cultivating the imagination of many gamers since the 1970s, with highly-renowned titles such as Dungeons & Dragons paving the way for tabletop games with its epic adventures and dice-rolling.

Today, Dungeons & Dragons fans who aren’t able to play the game themselves can indulge and experience it through streamers such as Critical Role. In an exciting announcement, the company has revealed that it is launching its very own tabletop publishing company called Darrington Press.

Darrington Press, which is headed by Ivan Van Norman and with Matthew Mercer as the creative advisor, already has a game that it plans to release during the first quarter of next year.

The first game, Uk’otoa, is a semi-cooperative tactical card game wherein different groups of sailors try to survive while their ships are being dragged down to sea by a grotesque sea monster.

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Those who are fans of Critical Role’s past campaigns will be glad to know that the game set to release during the second quarter, which will be called Critical Role Adventures, will be set in Exandria. This is the location where a lot of Critical Role’s campaigns were set.

Although, it’s worth noting that it seems like this one will have its own narrative rather than being particularly based on Dungeons & Dragons.

Darrington Press’ third game, Syndicult, which is scheduled to release during the third quarter of 2021, is an original RPG designed by none other than Matthew Mercer. Syndicult tells the story of mob families competing for dominance in a low-magic world, featuring a simple dice-rolling mechanic.

The fourth game in Darrington Press’ library is entitled Guardians of Matrimonia, and it is described by the company as a “cooperative card game” where players fight against monsters a.k.a party crashers with the use of pre-built decks.

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That being said, this is definitely not Critical Role’s first time dipping its toes into publishing tabletop games. Just last March, a brand-new Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook was published and sold in stores. This book was entitled The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, and it was based on Critical Role’s campaigns.

The Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount was definitely jampacked with content, as it contained four starting adventures, three new subclasses, and twenty-three different creatures to battle and simply encounter. Basically, it’s a 304-page book full of adventures.

Critical Role has done more for the tabletop RPG community than just publishing a sourcebook, though. Wizards of the Coast also began allowing Dungeons & Dragons players to make use of Critical Role’s homebrew subclasses using the content creator in DnD Beyond.

As such, there isn’t a shadow of a doubt that Van Norman and Mercer are kings in the realm of tabletop games. However, this doesn’t change the fact that their publishing company is still new and they will first need to get their games out the factory doors and onto shelves.

For now, we’ll just have to wait for Darrington Press to announce the official publishing date for Uk’otoa. Once the game is launched, interested players will be able to get the game on Critical Role’s AU, UK, and US online storefronts.

New Godzilla Costume Coming To Fall Guys

By
Aletheia
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0
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While fans of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout have been enjoying the release of the game’s second season and all its features, developer Mediatonic has been working hard to seal more crossover deals with other companies.

In line with this, Fall Guys will be having another crossover, this time with the King of Monsters. More specifically, a new Godzilla skin will be available for players to use on November 3. Its release date is quite timely, given the fact that Godzilla Day takes place on the same day.

Godzilla has not had the best experience when it comes to video games, as its previous title i.e. the 2015 Godzilla game did not reach the fans’ expectations. That being said, this crossover seems suitable for the rampaging Kaiju.

Mediatonic tweeted the announcement via Fall Guys’ official Twitter account, along with a GIF showcasing a Fall Guys bean donning the outfit. The costume itself looks extremely well-detailed and the adorable bean looks surprisingly fitting as Godzilla.

Based on Mediatonic’s announcement, the developer seems to be really thrilled about this crossover, so you might want to start saving up on crowns.

https://twitter.com/FallGuysGame/status/1321104365113888768?s=20

Speaking of crowns, Mediatonic also advises players to “start getting their crowns together” in the tweet. The current season of Fall Guys has a variety of skins to choose from, such as a Sonic the Hedgehog costume. Many of these skins cost crowns, as such, we assume that this upcoming Godzilla skin will cost about 10 crowns.

We highly recommend that Fall Guys players snag this new skin as soon as it releases next week, as it’s highly likely that it will only be available for a limited time like the previous crossovers.

That being said, it was a great idea for Mediatonic to inform the fans beforehand concerning the addition of this Godzilla skin. After all, players will have to grind the game for crowns through winning matches or through the battle pass tiers if they want to get their hands on it.

We can’t wait to see what other crossover skins will be made available to Fall Guys in the future. As mentioned, Fall Guys already has a history of collaborating with other video game franchises.

Asides from the aforementioned Sonic skin, Fall Guys also collaborated with the indie game Gris to release a skin based on the game’s protagonist. Not only that, but Mediatonic also had a crossover with Valve’s acclaimed Portal and Half-Life.

At this point, we can only speculate what Mediatonic will be bringing to the game in the future. A Godzilla vs. Kong film is scheduled to release by next year, so who knows? We might be getting a King Kong skin as well, allowing the monster to stomp its way into the jellybean world of Fall Guys.

In any case, the fact that the infamous Godzilla is making its way to the platformer battle royale is great news for those who are avid fans of the Kaiju.

Once November 3 a.k.a Godzilla Day arrives, you can expect to find a slew of Godzillas roaming around the Fall Guys arenas.

Cyberpunk 2077 Developers Receive Death Threats After News Of Delay

By
Aletheia
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0
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After the unfortunate announcement that Cyberbunk 2077 will be delayed once more, many fans were understandably upset and honestly, they have every right to be. After all, the title has been delayed numerous times already, and it can be frustrating that CD Projekt Red has been hyping up its upcoming November release only to be pushed back again.

While their feelings of exasperation are truly valid, some fans have taken things a step further by sending death threats to some of the developers who worked on Cyberpunk 2077.

Despite its many delays, the upcoming action RPG is still considered to be one of the most highly-anticipated games this year. However, this kind of positive title comes with a sort of negativity as well. You see, with all the hype, fans have set high expectations for the game.

Every time it gets delayed, however, fans lose more and more faith in the title. Most if not all fans of Cyberpunk 2077 agree that this new announcement is disappointing at best, but sending death threats to innocent developers is completely unwarranted.

The news that developers were receiving death threats came from the title’s Lead Game Designer, Andrzej Zawadzki. He posted a tweet recently that called out those supposed fans who resorted to sending threats to air out their frustrations. Many fans replied in agreement and condemned this sort of lowly behavior.

The fact that some developers have been receiving such threats is like rubbing salt on a wound, especially since Cyberpunk 2077’s devs found out about the delay at the same time as fans.

According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, the decision to delay the game was made by the higher-ups of CD Projekt Red, and the employees only received an email informing them of this decision at the same time as the announcement tweet was posted.

What makes things worse is the fact that CD Projekt Red has participated in the crunch culture of the video game industry. Cyberpunk 2077 developers have been working extra hard just to ensure the successful release of this game – up to 100 hours in a week, to be precise – and receiving death threats is definitely the last thing they need. Especially since they didn’t play any part in the game’s delay.

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On the other hand, while this situation is disheartening, it should be said that sending death threats to anyone for whatever reason is never okay.

Unfortunately, irrational outbursts of this kind by a portion of Cyberpunk 2077’s fanbase potentially weakens the valid issues and complaints that fans have concerning the game and its development.

Zawadzki is commendable for validating the fans’ feelings first before calling them out for their actions, but it’s still a problem that no one deserves to face. Sending death threats to developers and other people with status is, unfortunately, a common thing in this industry.

All we can hope is that this kind of awful practice will end very soon. Not only is it potentially harmful, especially to a person’s mental health, it’s also a very immature way to handle one’s grievances.

 

PlayStation Unboxing: Everything Inside The Box

By
Christian Allen Tandoc
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0
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Unboxing videos of the PlayStation 5 have begun to spread online, providing fans with what they will receive once they get their preorders in November. Sadly, a prohibition from Sony has restricted the individuals who received the PlayStation 5 from being able to show the system in action. This keeps fans from getting a look at the new and improved user interface to find out if it really is as confusing as some have mentioned.

The unboxing clips come after a day Sony was given a considerable blow in terms of its release title lineup for the PlayStation 5. The gaming giant revealed yesterday that Destruction AllStars will not be released on November 12. Instead, the game will be launched sometime in February.

However, Sony has revealed that Destruction AllStars will be free to download for everyone with an active PlayStation Plus subscription come release day. The sad thing is that the delay means there are barely any first-party PlayStation 5 exclusive games coming to the system this November.

One of the first unboxing videos that have appeared on the internet for the PlayStation 5 gave fans a great look at everything contained inside the retail box. Tech reviewer and famous YouTuber Marques Brownlee has uploaded footage of him unboxing the retail box of the PlayStation 5, making it the first moment that Western reporters have been able to witness Sony’s next-gen console in person.

The retail box contains the main system itself along with a power cord, an HDMI cable, one DualSense wireless controller, and the stand to mount the PlayStation 5 on its side. The controller also comes with a USB-C port instead of the micro USB port of the DualShock 4. One cool detail that the YouTuber observed was that the front side of the unit’s case seems to be made up of hundreds of tiny shapes that feature the buttons on every PlayStation 5 controller.

Despite the recent controversies faced by the PlayStation 5 and Sony, Phil Spencer still believes that the next-gen consoles will sell out during the holidays. The Xbox head also assumes that console exclusive games will not have a significant effect in the short term as he knows both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 will sell all available units before this year ends. Spencer also believes that this is the result of the coronavirus pandemic making games more famous and restricting the production of the new consoles.

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This is the first time journalists in the West and various outlets have been able to receive the retail edition of the PlayStation 5. Previously, Sony’s new console has only been made available to certain individuals in Japan.

Seeing it in the videos shows no only how huge the PlayStation 5 is but how it totally overshadows other consoles. It’s also great to get validation that the new DualSense controllers now utilize USB-C ports for charging and see the detailed paint job done on the console and its accessories.

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